what has come to pass
by Kyoshi7989
Summary: So many paths she could have taken, so many things that could have been. Yet despite this, Toph knows that they have only led her one thing all these years: him. Tokka Oneshot.


**Title:**what has come to pass  
**Rating:** Kplus  
**Pairing(s):** Tokka, SokkaToph, TophSokka. Could be interpreted as friendship, or romance.  
**Summary:** So many paths she could have taken, so many things that could have been. Yet despite this, Toph knows that they have only led her one thing all these years: him. Tokka, TophSokkaToph.  
**A/N:** Just a short little oneshot I cooked up. Very angsty in some places, and very vague. But then again, that's how it usually is with me XD

I don't expect this to be very popular, but I did enjoy writing it, so I figured I might as well share it with you all. So...ON WITH THE TOKKA!!

* * *

what has come to pass

Somewhere, a fire burns brightly; smoke spiraling up into the night and fading into the stars. A man and a woman sit side by side, reunited for the first time in many years.

Somewhere, it is she that poses that questions (_"What could been come to pass between us?"_), and somewhere, he is the only one to really care.

Somewhere, Toph lets out a bitter, empty laugh, and that is that.

And somewhere, Toph wonders.

* * *

Somewhere, the Bei Fong heiress had eagle-sharp eyesight and an overwhelming dispassion for anything not shiny, pretty, or something she wanted.

Somewhere, her parents rescued her from the muddy cave so quickly that the warm, soft snout brushing against her goose-bumped skin was nothing but a distant memory.

Somewhere, Toph cried when the Water Tribe boy flees from her room, leaving behind the too-fleeting promises of a whole new start and the half-spoken whispers of _it doesn't have to be like this_ and _they think your a spoiled brat, but it's not really all your fault_ and _won't you come see the world with us?_

And somewhere, it didn't even matter.

* * *

And somewhere, she resisted the strange lure that drew her to the Water Tribe boy, what's-his-face Sokka, despite the telltale racing of her heart and the uncontrollable blush on her cheeks.

And somewhere, she fell for him in small stages, step by step, day by day; and somewhere, it was simply one huge leap.

Somewhere, Toph regretted it.

* * *

And somewhere, the Kyoshi warrior has been traveling with them from the very beginning.

And somewhere, the tears fall upon the ground when she learns of them, pried from her eyes like fingers from a clenched fist.

Somewhere, Toph loved him anyway.

* * *

Somewhere, they trooped out of the last battle unscathed, and smiling.

Somewhere Katara bent over, hard-faced, struggling to sew together the broken flesh and bone.

Somewhere, Sokka woke up.

Somewhere, the blood caked her fingernails as she held his hand, tighter then ever before; and somewhere, she was the first to feel the steady, reassuring pulse slowly come to a devastating halt.

And somewhere, Toph forgot how to breathe.

* * *

Somewhere, Sokka was contended with the companionship of a blind earthbender and a scatter of friends across the earth.

Somewhere, his wife was the princess of ice, saved from the ultimate sacrifice with only three simple words.

Somewhere, it was the Kyoshi warrior, the smooth paint smeared across her face interrupted only by the tears of joy, dropping one by one to the ground.

Somewhere, it was the bouncy, pink acrobat, leaning to pull him into a deeper kiss as the bishop pronounces the final, binding words.

Somewhere, it was her.

Somewhere, it wasn't.

And somewhere, Toph bothered to shed a single tear.

* * *

Somewhere, he accused her.

Somewhere, she denied it.

And somewhere, there was only the rain to wash away her regret.

* * *

Somewhere, Toph made a fleeting visit home only to have yet another stiffly dressed suitor forced upon her.

And somewhere, she received the invitation in a thick, fancy envelope; and somewhere, her fingers fumbled while opening it; and somewhere, when her mother reluctantly began to read the flowing script aloud, Toph Bei Fong, for the first time in eight long years, broke down and cried.

Somewhere, Sokka begged her to come out, to refuse the offer; to take ahold of her life blown to pieces and _stop hiding in the closet like the scared little girl she'd never been, dammit!_

Somewhere, she stumbled out of the tiny, cramped room, and simply kissed him.

Somewhere, he pulled away.

Somewhere, he kissed her back.

And somewhere, Sokka ever neven had the chance.

* * *

Somewhere, an ivory white dress fit snugly around a petite waist, and pale irises stared blankly ahead.

Somewhere, she wanted him.

And somewhere, she didn't.

* * *

And somewhere, she confessed; and somewhere, it was him.

And somewhere, Toph denied all of it, every last hidden sign, every last unspoken word, that had been recorded so meticulously, just ready to prove to her that _yes, we are in love_ and_ won't you just admit it already _and _why are you so afraid of someone _wanting _you?!_ and_ I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that_ and the rebuttal of _stop seeing things that aren't there_ and _because there's nothing to admit to _and _because I thought you were different _and _maybe so, but you already did._

Somewhere, Toph was a liar.

* * *

Somewhere, today, Toph is wearing black.

Somewhere, she wears white.

Somewhere, Sokka is a million miles away.

Somewhere, he no longer walks this world.

Somewhere, there are a thousand words that must be spoken, a thousand hurts that must be healed, before things are set right once more.

Somewhere, there is no more that needs to be done.

But there is no question that, no matter what, it will always come back to him.

* * *

Here, Sokka is right beside her.

Here, his arm is looped around her neck, and her fingers are intertwined through his.

And here, his chin rests atop her head, and he's chuckling at one of his own stupid jokes, and she'd roll her eyes if she knew such a gesture existed, because, _God it gets old after a while_.

Somewhere, maybe, she might want something more.

But here—

Right here, right now, Toph knows.

_This_ is enough.


End file.
